Almost four years ago our neighbors in the duplex we used to rent brought us the most delicious cookies I have ever tasted: Martha Stewart’s Dark Chocolate Crackles (here is a recipe I found for her Chocolate Crackles). These were better than peanut blossoms (my previous favorites) and even homemade Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies did […]
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On my way to work each day I pass three-five people begging for money. Some attempt to wash my windshield or dance to earn change; others are crippled and hold signs. I smile at each of them with direct eye contact, remembering when a homeless person visited my college and mentioned the isolation he felt […]
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I typically do not send out Christmas and Holiday cards. In fact, I cannot remember a single Christmas when I did. Year after year, without fail, I receive thoughtful cards in the mail from friends and family that bring me joy. But along with gratefulness and happiness, I feel slightly ashamed at not sending my […]
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I was in a car accident last week. If you live in Houston then you might have seen me standing along the I-10 median in a black and white speckled jacket while stuck in commuter traffic on your way home. At about a car length away, the driver in front of me came to a […]
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My mother, brother, and his girlfriend visited us last week from PA. In their honor we threw a Halloween party and invited 25 of our friends and family. What a blast! We wanted it to be a really festive occasion, but of course we wanted to keep costs down so we challenged ourselves to remain […]
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Sometimes what we want to give loved ones cannot come close to what we can actually afford to give them. Because there is pressure from the media, retailers, and other people to try and express all of this emotion towards others in a financial way, we may purchase a gift that is over our budget […]
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When it comes to the Superbowl what I look forward to the most are the commercials, the socializing, and the food. I get a little choked up at the singing of the national anthem, and I can’t help but smile when seeing the players hit the field in all their glory. But my true enjoyment […]
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Happy New Year everyone! Unfortunately for me I came down with the flu starting last Thursday all the way through to Sunday. In between naps, Words with Friends, more naps, and a marathon of movies, I took the sick time to reflect a bit on 2011 and round up the most popular posts from Frugal […]
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In a word, no. But what a great experience! I always believe that you should shoot for the heavens because when you miss you will still fall among the stars—and the stars are a beautiful place to be. Here is a great example of this in action: in 2010 we had a personal savings rate […]
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When I was in my early twenties I went to an acupuncturist who quickly caught onto my limited vocabulary of should, could, or would. Almost every sentence I used then had one of these words in it—a thought accompanied by a heaping side of guilt. It was so bad that my homework after one session […]
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